RIVER FALLS – A former Freeman Drug employee is facing a felony embezzling charge for allegedly stealing from the store, according to reports filed in Pierce County Circuit Court last week.

Paige Marie Marlatt, also known as Paige Freund, 33, Ellsworth, posted a $10,000 signature bond Nov. 3 on a felony theft – business setting > $5,000-$10,000 charge. If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of six years in prison and/or fines up to $10,000.

According to the complaint:

River Falls police were dispatched at 3 p.m. Aug. 2, 2024 to Freeman Drug (104 S. Main St., River Falls) for a fraud complaint. The owner reported that after going through the books, she believed Marlatt, their bookkeeper, had been embezzling from them. The missing money, estimated at $11,973.59, was discovered when Marlatt went on maternity leave and someone else took over her bookkeeping duties.

Marlatt started working at Freeman in July 2022. The owner believed the embezzlement began in June 2023 when Marlatt allegedly wrote checks from the company to herself, then labeled them in QuickBooks as payments made to somebody else. She noticed that invoices for vendors also had incorrect amounts, after comparing checks in the business bank accounts to what was listed in QuickBooks. The owner also said Marlatt gave the impression that she was smarter than everyone else and nobody could do her job.

Marlatt was also authorized to make purchases for the store using a credit card.

Police executed a search warrant on Marlatt’s personal bank account. They were able to go through the records and find 11, 073.62 in what appeared to be fraudulent deposits, listed in Freeman Drug’s QuickBooks program as payments to vendors, such as medical supply companies. The complainant also confirmed the amount of unauthorized credit card transactions by Marlatt as $868.65, which included purchases at coffee shops, restaurants and Kwik Trip. Marlatt, as the bookkeeper and insurance billing clerk, was the only employee who had access to the business credit card and checking account besides the owner.

In a follow-up interview, the owner and complainant informed police that Marlatt, who was terminated in July 2024, had submitted a complaint against the owner’s pharmacist license on Nov. 6, 2024. This was also the date police had met with Marlatt to discuss the accusations. The complaint Marlatt filed said the owner had filled the wrong prescription for someone and she was continuously providing wrong vaccinations to children.

When police interviewed Marlatt, she denied the thefts and said she would like to speak to an attorney, which ended the interview.

Marlatt is scheduled to appear in Pierce County Circuit Court at 9:30 a.m. Dec. 16 for a preliminary hearing.